During the work week, we like to stay at home and cook different things, followed by watching a movie or TV show. We both love Chopped, and sometimes it gives us ideas for dinner. In the winter, we like to have our fireplace going while sipping some hot chocolate. In the warmer months, we like to sit outside on our deck while eating and watching the squirrels and birds. No matter what we are doing, our awesome cat Sally is sure to be nearby!

On the weekends, we try to take advantage of everything in our area. Some of the things we like to do include riding bikes on the different trails near us, visiting museums, swimming or playing golf, trying new restaurants, going to the movies, bowling, and skiing. Cory loves pinball and video games and some of his best memories of his childhood include playing the original Nintendo with his dad. He can’t wait to do the same with our child.

We also like to take a trip once or twice a year. We’d like to visit all 50 states. Cory loves baseball and his dream is to see a game in each park, which gives us a nice excuse to visit different places. Hopefully, our child will not make the mistake of falling in love with the Pittsburgh Pirates like we did. Going to PNC Park to see them play is a favorite summer activity, but unfortunately the team is rarely good!

Cory About Heather: I love that Heather looks for the best in people and is always willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt. I remember one of our first dates someone did something rude and I commented on it. She said, “Maybe his family member is sick and he’s really worried, or maybe he just lost his job.” She’s always looking for the best in people, and I really admire that. Plus, it help keeps me out of trouble when I do something wrong!

Heather About Cory: Cory is the most genuine person that I know. I value his opinion and thoughts with such high regard and having him in my life makes me a better person. When I feel down, he lifts me up. When I am confused or concerned about something, he listens intently to me. The other day I was telling him a story about an old co-worker and he remembered details that I had shared with him from a few years ago. I smiled because I know that he deeply cares about me and our life together!

When we bought our house four years ago the educational opportunities for our future children was a priority in choosing a neighborhood. We live in Upper St. Clair, located about ten miles from downtown Pittsburgh. Its school district is widely recognized as one of the best in Pennsylvania, with U.S. News and World Report ranking the high school in the top 2% of school districts nationwide. Last year, its students’ SAT scores ranked number six in Pennsylvania.

We intend to encourage our children in pursuing whatever field they wish and give them every opportunity to do so. Living near Pittsburgh also gives opportunities for camps and other events. For example, Carnegie Mellon University is well known for its robotics and computer science programs and holds camps for children to learn science and math skills. Or, if our child is interested in art, there are plenty of arts programs nearby. We intend to let our child choose his or her path and support them as best we can.

Our house is a four-bedroom house in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, located about ten miles from downtown. We both enjoy relaxing in the two living areas, where we like to curl up on the couch in front of our fireplace. In the warmer months, we like to hang out in our backyard, grilling on the deck or playing games in the grass.

Our community is heavily focused on families and recreation. The township has fourteen parks, multiple tennis courts, golf courses, baseball fields, a large recreation center, and lots of hiking trails. Our neighborhood has plenty of families with children, and the township often holds seasonal events for the major holidays. We are members of a local country club where we like to golf, eat dinner, and swim. The club hosts many events geared towards families and children, and we can’t wait to take a child to have fun and make friends.

Most of our extended family lives in the Pittsburgh area. Those that have moved usually return for big holidays. A holiday tradition is Easter Sunday at Heather’s sister’s house, as they host the extended family. We do a huge Easter egg hunt for all the kids. There is one huge egg that contains a big prize and we are usually responsible for hiding all the eggs. It’s so much fun to see all the kids running around, trying to be the first to find the big egg!

We also get together for Christmas and Thanksgiving with our extended families. Both sides enjoy playing all kinds of board games on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. This year’s big hits were Codenames and Ticket to Ride. Cory’s brother bought the house they grew up in and lives there with his wife. We visit often, and they have lots of nieces and nephews that we see.

Both sides of the family are very excited about our adoption plan! Everyone hopes that our Christmas pictures next year have one more person in them. We hope so, too!

We knew early in our relationship that we wanted to have a family. We tried for two years and went through fertility treatments, which ultimately did not work. Accepting that we could never have our own biological children was hard, but it ended up strengthening our marriage. We have a lot of love to share, and we are thankful that you have taken the time to even consider us as adoptive parents.

One thing we learned during our struggles is that no one really knows what someone else is feeling during a difficult event. We cannot imagine what you are going through in making this decision and won’t pretend that we do. We know there are many potential couples out there for you to pick, and we are all the same in that all of us desire to be adoptive parents. Of course, we are all different in our personalities and lives, so we’d like to tell you a little about ourselves.

Heather works in the pharmaceutical sales industry, educating doctors, nurses, and office staff on medication. She loves her job because it helps doctors save lives. Having a nurse say that a patient is living a better life due to her company’s products is rewarding. She enjoys exercising, yoga, painting, and crafts.

Cory is an attorney and works as a law clerk for a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He researches and writes draft opinions covering many different areas of the law. He has played guitar and bass guitar for twenty-five years, and currently plays in a band with friends. He likes to play with technology and electronics in his spare time and loves watching sports. We live about 20 minutes from the stadiums for the Pirates, Penguins, and Steelers, and enjoy going to a few games of each sport every year. We really like the fact that we are close enough to downtown Pittsburgh to enjoy all the things a big city has to offer.

We met seven years ago and were set up by close friends and celebrated our fourth anniversary in May. We both wanted children and we are so excited to adopt a child. We are grateful to be at this stage of our lives with good careers, a house we love, and a fantastic community with great schools and over a dozen parks for kids. We know we have been extremely lucky to get to this point, and that we have been given many opportunities along the way. God gave us so much to get us to where we are, and we think that God now wants us to share our love and good fortunes through adoption.

We promise to raise your child the best we can, and we are committed to sending pictures and letters to you, and are more than willing to talk to you more if you would like to hear more about us!

If you have read this far, thank you so much for taking the time to read a little about us. No matter what decision you make, good luck to you and your family, and may God bless you on your journeys.

Cory & Heather